A parody religion or mock religion is a belief system that challenges spiritual convictions of others, often through humor, satire, or burlesque (literary ridicule). Often created to achieve a specific purpose related to another belief system, a parody religion can be a parody of several religions, sects, gurus, cults, or new religious movements at the same time or even a parody of no particular religion, instead parodying the concept of religious belief itself. In some parody religions, the emphasis is on having fun; the faith may be a convenient excuse for pleasant social interaction among the like-minded.

One approach to parody religion aims to highlight deficiencies in particular pro-religious arguments — the thinking being that if a given argument can also be used to support a clear parody, then the original argument is clearly flawed. An example of this is the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which parodies the equal time argument employed by intelligent design and creationism.[1]

Several religions that are classified as parody religions have a number of relatively serious followers who embrace the perceived absurdity of these religions as spiritually significant, a decidedly post-modern approach to religion. For instance, in Discordianism, it can be hard to tell whether even these "serious" followers are not just taking part in an even bigger joke.

A joke version of omphalism that argues that the universe was created last Thursday, created to demonstrate problems with unfalsifiable beliefs, and the variant Next Wednesdayism inspired by John Landis's running movie gag See You Next Wednesday.

A fictional religion from Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle, which promotes harmless comforting lies called foma. Its principal text, The Books of Bokonon, is a parody of the New Testament. See also the Church of God the Utterly Indifferent in Kurt Vonnegut's The Sirens of Titan.

A fictional religion in the online series Mirror created by Wham City Comedy. It is lead by a man named Curtis, and has strong beliefs about cleanliness, drinking water, and something they refer to as Tindalos doorways.

The Church of Euthanasia is a "non-profit educational foundation devoted to restoring balance between Humans and the remaining species on Earth." The Church uses sermons, music, culture jamming, publicity stunts and direct action to highlight Earth's unsustainable population. The Church is notorious for its conflicts with Pro-life Christian activists.

Founded in 1979. Often regarded as a parody of religion in general, with elements of fundamentalist Christianity, Zen, Scientology, new-age cults, pop-psychology, and motivational sales techniques amongst others, it has become a movement in its own right, inspiring several books, art exhibits, rock albums, conventions, and novelty items.

Dinkoism is a parody religion that places Dinkan, a comic character from Malayalam Children's magazine Balamangalam, as the one true God and the creator of the Universe. It is very similar to Pastafarianism that worships The Flying Spaghetti Monster. Dinkoism was organized by some independent social welfare groups of Kerala, India as a means to mock blind faith and creatively criticise religious intolerance. It had its origins in the social media. Its principal deity is also Dinkan.

The philosophical school founded by Epicurus of Samos often behaves like a parody religion. Ancient Epicureans celebrated a feast on the twentieth of each month as a philosophical alternative to the common devotions of the day, and frequently pitied and mocked the beliefs of common folk. In A True Story, Epicurean satirist Lucian of Samosata imitated the common religious convention of reserving right to entry into heaven when he invented a paradise called "Isle of the Blessed" where only Epicureans and their allies were allowed, and comically explained how members of other philosophical schools failed to find their way to it.

An internet-based religion based on the belief that file sharing is a sacred virtue which must remain protected. It was given recognition by the Sweden government in January 2012. It was founded by a philosophy student, Isak Gerson.

A new religious movement inspired by the 1999 movie The Matrix. It appeared online in 2004. The adherents claim belief in a multilayered subjective reality and await the return of their prophet, the One.

Dawkins also created a parody of the criticism of atheism, coining the term athorism, or the firm belief that the Norse deity Thor does not exist. The intention is to emphasize the claim that atheism is not a form of religious creed, but instead merely denial of beliefs.[37]
A common challenge against atheism is the idea that atheism is itself a form of "faith", a belief without proof. The theist might say "No one can prove that God does not exist, therefore an atheist is exercising faith by asserting that there is no God." Dawkins argues that by replacing the word "God" with "Thor" one should see that the assertion is fallacious. The burden of proof, he claims, rests upon the believer in the supernatural, not upon the non-believer who considers such things unlikely. Athorism is an attempt to illustrate through absurdity that there is no logical difference between disbelieving particular religions.